4th Grade PSSA Reading
Study online at quizlet.com/_faze

1.charts: tables, graphs, lists, and other ways of showing data in the text

2.graphics: photographs, drawings, or maps within the text

3.heading: a word or phrase in bold print that show the text's topic or theme

4.inference: a conclusion based on facts, reasoning, and "reading between the lines"

5.informational text: a nonfiction text, written to share factual information

6.iterary nonfiction: this type of text includes literary elements and devices normally found in fiction, but it tells about real people, places, or events

7.literary devices: tools used by the author to make the story interesting (such as dialogue, alliteration, etc.

8.main idea: the author's most important point, usually found in the topic sentence

9.multiple meaning words: words that can have several meanings, depending upon how they are used in a sentence

10.narrative: a type of text that tells a story

11.nonfiction: actual writing that explains, informs, or describes (rather than entertains)

12.paraphrase: restate something you read or hear by putting it in your own words

13.personification: giving human qualities, feelings, or actions to something that is not human

14.plot: a story's sequence of events

15.prefix: a group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to change its meaning

16.setting: a story's time and place

17.simile: comparing two unlike things by using the words "like" or "as"

18.style: how an author writes, using language to interest the reader in his or her purpose

19.suffix: a group of letters placed at the end of a word to change its meaning

20.summarize: to retell the most important parts of a text in a much shorter way, using your own words

21.synonym: one word that has the same meaning as another word

22.theme: a major idea that is the topic of discussion or writing

1.-ful means: full of

2.-ful, -less, -ble, -ly, -or, -ness, -ment: suffixes

3.-less means....: without

4.-ly means....: in that way

5.action: what is GOING ON in the passage; another word for event

6.alliteration: sound repetition- Fantastic Fourth graders!

7.antonyms: words that mean the opposite

8.antonyms: cooperative/stubborn soft/hard fact/opinion

9.author's purpose: This is WHY the author wrote the article, story, passage, etc.

10.biography: A life story written about a person by ANOTHER person

11.careful: full of care

12.carefully: in a careful way

13.careless: without care

14.cause/effect: Clue words: because of, since, as a result

15.character: A person, animal, or thing in the passage.

16.compare/contrast: Clue words: on the other hand, but, in contrast, like, similar, difference

17.disappear: the opposite of appear

18.dislike: the opposite of like

19.entertain: An author might write to make you laugh, to enjoy yourself, to have a good time reading, to make you feel strong emotions....

20.event: something that HAPPENS in a story

21.facts: truths

22.happily: in a happy way

23.headings: These are BOLD words and phrases at the TOP of passages

24.hopeful: full of hope

25.hopeless: without hope

26.in- and non- mean.....: not

27.incapable: not capable

28.inform: An author might write to try and tell you about something, explain directions....

29.insecure: not secure

30.insensitive: not senstive

31.lovingly: in a loving way

32.main idea: what the passage is MOSTLY about

33.narrator: The person telling the story

34.opinions: someone's beliefs

35.personification: Non-humans acting like humans

36.persuade: An author might write to try to change your mind, convince of something....

37.pre- means....: before

38.prefixes: word parts at the BEGINNING of words

39.preheat: to heat before you cook

40.preschool: school before regular school

41.preview: to view before

42.problem/solution: Clue words: problem, solution, effect, hopeful

43.question/answer: Clue words: who, what, when, where, why

44.re-, pre-, in-, un-, dis-, mis-, non-: prefixes

45.rearrange: to arrange again

46.reheat: to heat again

47.reread: to read again

48.sequence: Clue words: first, second, next, after, finally

49.similes: compares TWO things using LIKE or AS She is as slow as a snail.

50.solution: how the problem is solved in the story

51.subject of a biography: The person that the biography is about

52.suffixes: word parts at the ENDS of words

53.summary: a shortened version of a passage

54.synonyms: beautiful/pretty old/ancient difficult/hard

55.synonyms: words that mean the same

56.text organization: how the author organized his/her writing

57.un- and -dis mean....: the opposite of

58.uncaring: the opposite of caring

59.undo: the opposite of do

60.unwind: the opposite of wind

1.alliteration: repetition of the same sound

2.antonym: two words with opposite meanings

3.author's purpose: reason for writing

4.fact: a statement that can be proven true or false

5.genre: categories that classify literary works

6.homophone: words that sound the same, but have different meanings and are spelled differently

7.hyperbole: extreme exaggeration

8.idiom: a phrase not to be understood if taken literally. EX. It's raining cats and dogs.

9.inference: a guess based on what you read and what you already know

10.metaphor: comparing two things without using 'like' or 'as'

11.onomatopoeia: sound words EX. moo, snap, plop, meow, ETC.

12.opinion: what someone thinks or feels; cannot be proven true or false

13.personification: giving an object human qualities

14.plot: the events of a story

15.prefix: a group of letters (affix) attached to the front of a word to change its meaning

16.resolution: where the problem in the story is worked out

17.root word: the form of a word after all affixes have been removed EX. reprint - once the prefix re- is removed, the root is print

18.simile: comparing two things using 'like' or 'as'

19.suffix: a group of letters (affix) attached to the end of a word to change its meaning

20.summary: to retell including only main points

21.synonym: two words with similar meanings

22.text structure: the way a piece of writing is organized; this is especially true of nonfiction

23.thesaurus: a book of synonyms